Rev l Salt/ET-
F‘ert/T pr)? “(M’- REVERBAPHON Here Comes Everyone (88'lb‘:’,iilai .0.
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Pretty ritual" ever/thing released by Scottish electronica label Benbecula is worth a listen. and Reverbiiphoi. is no different. This secOrid album from
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‘oikfr’i'ilrn .‘Jtt’ Ila/z a' ’2 sir/1’1 misic to create <r)r,.'riet"l'xg intelligent ’fll’glfétl€1"’Ju’ifuetiflf‘g Tt‘e opening sat/o of Broad lsia' d' and Us l/iob' sets the template corriplex rhythn s. ytter, samples and (ll/(lad IDSTFLilll(;".Iatl(fll layered to dramatic effect. A few tracks tend to collapse under the sheer weight of ideas. but when he gets it right. like on the sumptuous ‘The Existential Sheriff', Smith is easily a match for like Four Tet and Caribou. (Doug Johnstone)
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This Mess We Keep Reshaping Fence) 000
While far from being a" actual mess. there's certainly not a huge iii'lOD’TT of form to Edinbiirg.h hip hop folk experimentalists FOu'id‘s second album. Ever the slaves to the right side of their brains. the
I SINGLES & DOWNLOADS
This issue's singles and downloads have a distinctly local tinge, with our whirlwind tour of new Scottish bands beginning in the company of Vale's The
Casuals. 'Confusion‘ (No Carbon) 0..
certainly wins the prize for the
most inadvertently apt title of the fortnight. Taking the listener back to the days of Iate~90's guitar rock, they score points for the singer's goblin-like vocals and penchant for meaty guitar solos. But this fails to distract from the fact that they sound uncannily like Skunk Anansie fronted by a particularly gruff member of Hanson. Probably not what they intended at all. Alrspiel’s ‘I
Don't Know You' O.
suffers from a similar state of musical confusion.
Having started things off with some Killers-like synths the song soon morphs into something sounding like a Pink B—side. thus ruining any of the good work
they put in at the start.
Going into the singer-songwriting trade is risky business. There are riskier professions. of course. such as suicide bombing or asbestos removal. but neither of those will ever result in you waking up one day to find you sound like Ronan Keating. Craig Jeflrey sounds like a nice. sensitive fellow and he proves he can craft a decent tune. But unless his voice's uncanny resemblance to Keating's. Fellow crooner Iain Shaw's voice. with its whiff of Daniel Johnston. is much kinder on the ear. but the
on ‘Hard to Say' 0”
cliche-ridden lyrics displayed on ‘Three Song Demo' 00
let him down.
A more original proposition comes in the form of My Tlny Robota' “Some of My Best Ideas' (Kraken Records) 0000 . Kicking off with the type of chanting one could imagine hearing at a bizarre Masonic ceremony, their singer sounds like Morrissey's pugnacious younger cousin and. believe me. this is a very good thing. Frightened Rabbit do a nice line in Sebadoh-like
indie and ‘Be Less Rude‘ (Fat Cat) 000
is a pleasant summery concoction
that has a far moodier lyrical undercurrent than its soft keyboards initially let on. Captain Face’s hook laden ‘lOO% Crad' (Fat Hippy) 000 is crammed with enough jittering fret work to make for a highly entertaining if not particularly inspiring three minutes. Correcto made the mistake of
making ‘Joni‘ (Domino) 0.
their lead single instead of its far superior B-
side ‘Wasting Time' 00” . The first track is limp and repetitive and quickly begins to amble. The second. however, is far superior in every department and almost makes the lead track appear like some son of practical joke Single of the Fortnight. though, goes to Glasvegas. Having already been recipients of Alan McGee-driven hype campaign. this is. in some ways. a rather predictable choice but the Mary Chain qualities of ‘Daddy's Gone' (Sane Man) 00” see off all other competitors at a center. (Miles Johnson)
62 THE LIST 1—15 NO\ 2007
d.€ .(i“*:"i t3}
songs as art p'cJects' thwg to a level. wit" a sate u‘ stop starting blips. samples and {J‘ftatfj'L‘t‘tSt/‘U aural sketches
‘.‘/"er it works 't's irr‘pressze. partzcularly f," "Iv/"e". You 'raii' .-.r“r.rr peaks a": trr...g"‘~s like a kind of funk, weather (Tart ()tf‘ermse, its "art to get L)(:,’()ll(l t'te feeling that Found are much better at redraWing pop's boundaries (as or) their debut record) than they are when they attempt to do away With these boundaries altogether. (Malcolm Jackl
WORLD
VIEUX FARKA TOURE
Vieux Farka Toure (World Village) 0...
You might think that if Vieux Farka Toure entered the mUSic business he w0uld be doomed to failure. As the son of Malian music legend. the late Ali Farka Toure. he would be working in his father's shadow and probably end up petering out. a la Julian Lennon.
It's a pleasant surprise then to discover that this debut album is senoosly good. Rather than breaking away from his father's more time-honoured acoustic Saharan sound. Vieux places it at the heart of his oeuvre. fusmg it With a pulsating electric gwtar that just seems to meander through tracks like ‘Ana' and the wonderfully soothing ‘Diabate'. Father and son even team up for two tracks. the only existing recordings of both together. It might seem like world music sacrilege for some to follow so closely in his father's footsteps. but even th0ugh Ali's revered sound is deep in the roots of this album. Vieux's modern-Afro take on this cOuld be the start of something great.
(Florence Thompson)
“(V .H( FF?
IMANI COPPOLA The Black and White Album ilper a:.
lmani Coppola is; a lot it‘ fun T"is is tl‘e N‘r'tl lady's eighth album_ and it eschews much of her sample neat“, tiauitiuval hip hop for a kitchen sink approai‘h. chuckiitg every genre possible into the llllX With hlghl‘) entertaining results 8:) we get rattling punk ii: 'Woke Up White'. perkfi, pop with ‘Haindrops from the Sun'. bump and grind R88 With the hilarious ‘Keys to Your Ass' as well as {illtf‘tflillb rock, rap. (ax/y interludes and much more besides. It's all shot through With plenty of attitude. like early Neneh Cherry or Kelis. no small amount of humour. and bags of welcome sass.
(Doug Johnstone)
ELEC THO POP JUNIOR BOYS Last Exit
(Domino) 0...
JUNIORBOYS
Perhaps alone on all of Domino's roster in that they're pretty much a straight dancefloor act. Ontario's Junior Boys have nevertheless remained a relatively unknown pleasure up until now. This is a welcome rei88ue of their 2004 debut album, a record five years in the making, that most people Will never have even heard of.
Falling somewhere between the crude Synthetic SOund of early Human League (including those ethereal, robotic vocals) and the dark squelch of aCid house. the album is an atmospheric afterparty scundtrack, with a certain SOulfulneSS which belies its electronic roots.
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BILLY JENKINS Songs of Praise Live! Ettit‘t‘i C...
‘I
Billy Jenkins Songs Of Pun-.1- Live!
forget at“, asstin‘iatior‘s v'vlttl Slil‘itti, t’\t’(‘l"t) twlimsio" t'lat )ust popped inti, your head il stispert you won't find a tune called ‘[‘1onkey Dre: ipi'lgs' getting an airing in that \‘."lt)l(}f%()l“~ slot anytirni‘ soon, but when the not mi Hewnend Billy .ltrilkzns takes the #‘,i‘?r\xi<.e~ a".,t'~.ing is on tlm agenda fiilly<;rie.iti:d the Songs of Mame prujert to celebrati- his 50th birthday in pose. and this recording comes from a gig in leeds recorded on a whim by the soundinan Jenkins has beer mining the blues a lot of late. but you have to bear in mind that we are talking about the guitarists iiiiigue and slightly cra/ed take on the form, not your ordinary blues. He leads a sextet that includes Empirical's Nathaniel Facey on sax. Dylan Bates (brother of Diango) on violin and former (his lleat drummer Charles Hayward. Selections include the manic “Dancing in Ornette Coleman's Head' and a zany cover of ‘Sunny', Prime Jenkins. (Kenny Mathieson)
ROCK TERRA DIABLO
Deluge Songs (Nocturnal) O...
Suddenly Iosmg a member to the biggest band in the country would dent the confidence of even the most selfassored act. Yet there's no ewdence